The office of the Ombudsman has launched investigations into irregularities in the recruitment of staff at the National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) and Roads Authority (RA).

According to the notices signed by Ombudsman Martha Chizuma, the first investigations would probe the recruitment of Nocma Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Hellen Buluma and RA Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Matapa.

According to respective notices for the institutions, the investigations follow after complaints her office has received; specifically three complaints against Buluma’s post which does not exist in the Nocma hierarchy, while a complaint against  Matapa outlined that the appointment as RA CEO followed after being Director of Maintenance for only eight months. “The complaint considers your recruitment as CEO as irregular and unfair as it did not offer some equally deserving officers an opportunity to compete for the post as good practice demands,” says part of the notice by Chizuma.